Bethlehem’s Musikfest this year was blessed with near perfect concert weather, with cool summer nights.

But on the festival’s final night, headliner Keith Urban heated things up with a wildly entertaining night of summer songs that were hot, yet as breezy as the night air that blew through the Steel Stage arena.

Playing to a sold-out crowd of more than 6,600 (the 10-day festival’s only sellout), Urban was animated and energetic through a show that included 24 songs in just over two hours.

Dressed in a gray T-shirt and black jeans, his hair long again, Urban blasted out unannounced and without comment with the full-bore rock of “Love’s Poster Child,” quickly flashing a fiery guitar solo that would be among many throughout the night.

And he quickly dipped into his well of 15 No. 1 hits (he would eventually play 13 of them) for the second song, “Sweet Thing,” the music swirling and him heating it up with a wild, burning extended guitar solo. (Urban really is an accomplished guitarist, and showed it several times through the show).

“How we feeling tonight, Bethlehem?” he asked the crowd.”You feeling good? If you ain’t, we gonna get you there.”

He appeared to be having a good time as well, singing with a slight smile on his new single, “Somewhere in My Car,” and, during the slower “Only You Can Love Me This Way,” asking the audience: “Are we in a singing mood tonight, Bethlehem?” (He had the crowd sing choruses on several songs.)

He even brought onstage three women who had held a sign saying she had driven 400 miles after two days in the hospital to see him, and snapped photos with them.

“The whole point of the evening is to chill out, have a good time,” Urban said.

And he made sure they did. During his barreling big hit “Kiss a Girl,” he encouraged people in the crowd to rush the stage (they did).

“Now it feels like a concert!” he said.

That also revealed something about Urban. Though some of his songs have a banjo in them, his music is country in sensibility only. He was pure rock on the very good “Long Hot Summer” and “Good Thing,” and during an energetic “Who Wouldn’t Wanna Be Me,” he squatted and bent over backward to play an intense solo.

The upbeat “Even the Stars Fall for You” was so summery, you could almost see the “fireflies in the field” it talks about.

But Urban also delivered on slow numbers. For “We Were Us,” his No. 1 hit duet with Miranda Lambert from last year, he brought onstage Kendall Conrad of Pottstown, who earlier had performed at Musikfest’s Lyricplatz stage and won an online contest to perform with Urban.

“Come Back to Me” was slow and intense, its music moody and echo-y. And the show’s centerpiece was an emotional “Stupid Boy,” which he started with just guitar and voice, and finished with a another searing guitar solo.

After bringing out opening act Brett Etheridge for a roaring, honky-tonk cover (including nice piano) of Tim McGraw’s “Something Like That,” Urban said, “Now we’re cooking,” then “I think it’s time we came to the back now.”

And, indeed, Urban made his way through the crowd to a makeshift stage in front of the bleachers section for a three-song set of a blasting “Days Go By,” a low and intense “Without You” and a rocking “You Look Good in My Shirt,” with another good solo, after which his guitar to a girl in the crowd.

Back on the stage, he burned to a finish on an impassioned “Cop Car,” which he sang on a darkened stage, “You Gonna Fly,” which he started while sitting on the edge of the stage and during which he pulled a cowboy hat from the audience to put atop his head, and right into a high-energy “Put You in a Song.”

Drenched in sweat, he finished by spinning as he played.

Urban returned for a four-song encore, greeting the crowd with, “Yee-haw. It’s been an absolutely beautiful night, Pennsylvania,” then – alone on stage, rewarded the crowd with a quiet, exceptionally well-sung “Making Memories of Us.” As if on cue, to add to the song’s wistfulness, a cool breeze kicked up.

His four-man band returned for “Better Life,” then finished with a thumping and chugging “Raise ‘Em Up” and his breakthrough first No. 1, “Somebody Like You” – which stretched to seven minutes with band introductions as the crowd clapped along, sang loudly and danced.

“Amazing night! Thank you Bethlehem,” he told the crowd.

And it was. A hot time to close a run of cool summer nights at Musikfest.

What a GREAT review!! Keith Urban is the most fantastic live entertainer in any genre, IMO!

Posted By: Gloria | Aug 11, 2014 9:17:18 PM

What an awesome review and so well deserved! It was a night to remember. But...if you follow Keith Urban and attend many concerts like I do then you know this is Vintage Keith!! He gives 100% of himself every show and he is so good to his fans? Unmatched on that guitar...he's Country Royalty!!

Posted By: Lisa Atiyeh | Aug 12, 2014 8:36:59 AM

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JOHN J. MOSER has been around long enough to have seen the original Ramones in a small club in New Jersey, U2 from the fourth row of a theater and Bob Dylan's born-again tours. But he also has the number for All-American Rejects' Nick Wheeler on his cell phone, wrote the first story ever done on Jack's Mannequin and hung out in Wiz Khalifa's hotel room.

OTHER CONTRIBUTORS

JODI DUCKETT: As The Morning Call's assistant features editor responsible for entertainment, she spends a lot of time surveying the music landscape and sizing up the Valley's festivals and club scene. She's no expert, but enjoys it all — especially artists who resonated in her younger years, such as Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young, Tracy Chapman, Santana and Joni Mitchell.

KATHY LAUER-WILLIAMS enjoys all types of music, from roots rock and folk to classical and opera. Music has been a constant backdrop to her life since she first sat on the steps listening to her mother’s Broadway LPs when she was 2. Since becoming a mother herself, she has become well-versed on the growing genre of kindie rock and, with her son in tow, can boast she has seen a majority of the current kid’s performers from Dan Zanes to They Might Be Giants.

STEPHANIE SIGAFOOS: A Jersey native raised in Northeast PA, she was reared in a house littered with 8-tracks, 45s and cassette tapes of The Beatles, Elvis, Meatloaf and Billy Joel. She also grew up on the sounds of Reba McEntire, Garth Brooks and Tim McGraw and can be found traversing the countryside in search of the sounds of a steel guitar. A fan of today's 'new country,' she digs mainstream/country-pop crossovers like Lady Antebellum and Sugarland and other artists that illustrate the genre's diversity.